JETBLAST: Game Day Preview Feb. 17/12 Bruins at Jets

Boston Bruins at Winnipeg Jets

(35-18-2) 72 points

(27-26-6) 60 points

2nd in East, 1st in Northeast

10th in East, 3rd in Southeast

Bruins

The Bruins are coming off a win in Montreal, the story from that game however was the cheering of Habs fans when Zdeno Chara took a puck off the chin. The Stanley Cup champs will come into Winnipeg with a chip on their shoulder and will be looking to make good for a loss in their first trip to Peg City.

The Bruins have shown no signs of letting up and remain favorites to defend their title. Tim Thomas has been having another great season despite the controversy he brought upon himself by declining to join his team for the annual champions visit.

The last time the Bruins have won two games in a row was January 10th and 12th with wins over Winnipeg and Montreal. Tonight they look to do it again as they beat the Canadiens on Wednesday and face the Jets tonight.

Jets

The Jets are facing perhaps their biggest challenge of the season tonight. 0-9-0 in the second game of back to backs and facing the defending Stanley Cup champions is not the recipe to break that losing trend. The one thing the Jets have going for them is the return to the MTS Centre and the start of a season high eight game home stand.

The Jets have been a different team at home than on the road and if they can build off the momentum gained in the 4-3 shoot out win in Minnesota in which we saw another glimpse of how good a player Evander Kane will be. Alexander Burmistrov was also strong playing his second game alongside Blake Wheeler and Kane. Mark my words this will develop into a strong top line that could rival any NHL team if given the chance to play together and develop.

Ondrej Pavelec will return to the net tonight and history suggests he may need to stand on his head and steal this one if the Jets are to win the game. We’ll see tonight if Captain Ladd’s calling out of the stars will continue over to the second game of a back to back.

Keys to Victory

Pray. Normally this would be an area I would say what the Jets have to do right to win. They’re record on back to backs suggest that the only way to win one may be divine intervention.

Ondrej the Giant. If Ondrej isn’t unbeatable chances are Boston walks out with the two points.

Lucky bounces. A lucky bounce or two would go a long way in helping the Jets improbable chances.

Get Kane, Burmie and Wheeler on the ice together when Chara is not. Keeping the top line against the top d-man in the league will open the ice up for their creativity to shine.

Injuries

Starting Goalies

Prediction

The Jets would love to start this home stand, off with a win and I would love to win the lottery… I’ve got better odds to have my dream come true than Winnipeg does.

Winnipeg Jets 2 – Boston Bruins 4

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Jeff Stevenson is a co-founder of winnipegwhiteout.com and co-host of the popular Jets Hockey Podcast. He grew up in Winnipeg, MB and became very passionate about sports, hockey and the Jets. Now Jeff is proud and honored to help bring news and information about the Winnipeg Jets to fans around the world.